Dr. Talkachova studies the therapeutic effect and efficacy of vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy in experimental in-vivo animal models, aiming to assess the effects of VNS therapy on the functional and electrophysiological properties of the heart. Her lab continuously record in-vivo ECG and blood pressure to characterize the effect of VNS on heart rate, blood pressure and arrythmias. They also perform ex-vivo optical mapping experiments in the isolated whole heart that allow them to study complex spatio-temporal organization of electrical activity encountered in the heart during normal and abnormal rhythms, and investigate the electrophysiological properties induced by VNS in both healthy and diseased hearts.
